Green Eyes
by Tellur
Summary: SPOILERS to the Extended Cut in here! After Synthesis Liara is dealing with her loss. Badly. But Shepard made a promise and intents to keep it. Fix it one shot which I might expand to something more later.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** So. Extended Cut. Play through it before you read this little fix it fic. Seriously it's much better than the original ending and I'm quite happy with it. But there is still something missing...

I consider this post-canon and not necessarily contrary to it. I just had to write it after the game left me in a wrecked state. Again.

As the title suggests I took the Synthesis ending but with a little bit of the Control ending mixed in. Not much though.  
It's from Liara's POV if you haven't guessed that. Also, this is in no way connected to my second, ongoing fic. The characters are quite different, except for the physical appearance and background, and the ending there will be different. Some themes will carry over but that's still far in the future.  
I'm almost certain I will write another piece, but additional motivation never hurts. So please, tell me what you think about this little snippet!

* * *

_No matter what happens – you mean everything to me, Liara. You always will._

Liara woke with a start. Green, luminous eyes shining in the darkness that held no secrets but no comfort either. Her apartment in Nos Astra had always felt empty, now more then ever, but it had survived the Reaper War relatively unscratched. With rebuilding still going on over a year later it had been her most sensible option.

Thessia was still in ruins, much like Earth and Palavan were and Illium as a central hub itself had drawn considerable Reaper attention but for some reason the building she was in now had been largely ignored. The panorama window through which she was shot at so long ago had been blown out and, in fact, was still missing. The weather was no trouble for the ascended anymore so replacing it was on a very low priority. Truth be told nothing was much trouble anyway.  
Food and water? Enjoyable, but not necessary as she had found out after not eating for a month.  
Oxygen? Not required. They could keep their bodies working on light or directly using dark energy if absolutely necessary.  
Even sleep was not needed but Liara didn't do much else. At least in her dreams she was still with her. Perfection felt hallow with all the hurt she still felt. Sometimes when it all was to much, she wished she was an actual machine, incapable of feeling. At other times she clung at the bitter sweet memories not wanting to let go ever again.

_Liara..._

She had tried to let go. There was a bright new future waiting. An age without scarcity, without war, the age of knowledge, true knowledge that made the information age most species lived before look like the first studies of a child. It had cost them their innocence but it had been worth it. Intellectually she knew that. What was one woman, one soul, in comparison to that?

But she couldn't. Couldn't let go. Everything reminded her of Shepard. Most of all the eyes. Her green eyes now peered at her from every face she looked at, even her own. She couldn't bear it.

_I am yours. Always._

She hadn't said the last word but even then she knew it in her heart. It had happened before and if anything the time after Shepard returned from the dead affirmed her beyond doubt. There would be no one else. Could not be anyone else. Immortality felt like a curse to her, yet she couldn't even think about just letting go of everything. Shepard wouldn't want that and so she endured.

_Liara..._

The whispers she could do without. It was as if her mind mocked her by projecting Shepard into anything she saw. As if she was somehow still with her, like a guardian angel out of Human myths watching over her, steering her away from the darkest thoughts.

The Green Wave had changed everything and everyone. No one knew exactly what had happened, what made it possible, although it was generally assumed to have been the Commander's handiwork, but the effects were plain to everyone. Knowledge and information, a superior state of being. A true understanding of those around you, similar to the Asari Joining but not as intimate. Still a minority blamed Shepard for everything. None actually complained about the 'upgrades' they had received but some couldn't forgive the Reapers. Emotions weren't erased only tempered by knowledge. Liara had hated the Reapers, more than most others in fact. They had taken her love from her and caused an unimaginable amount of anguish to both of them. But with understanding came forgiveness. The Reapers of today weren't the monsters of the past. She actually felt sorry for them.

To imagine the consciousnesses of billions of people, joined together and trapped in the very bodies that had tormented them in their previous lives. Forever forced to inflict the same again and again on other innocents, only disrupted by long stretches of agonizing nothingness, being conscious for ten-thousands of years in Dark Space. A single mind would have gone mad, but even that relief had been denied to them although some of them had come precariously close.

A single ray of sunshine illuminated the room, first herald of a new day of bleak existence. Something made Liara get up from the bed she never had shared with Shepard, despite wishing nightly for almost two years followed by another year after a blissful interruption. Secretly she was glad that Shepard had never been here with her. It would have made sleeping in this bed much harder.

She entered the bathroom. Personal hygiene had been instilled in her at a very young age and was about the only thing that had never faltered even in the darkest of days. Splashing some water on her face she studiously avoided looking in the mirror. For a few moments she braced herself against the sink, looking at the water draining away in a chaotic swirl. Steeling herself she looked up. Green eyes met hers, slowly filling with tears. And suddenly it was to much. The dam broke and she collapsed, sobbing uncontrolled, inconsolable.

How long she had been curled up in a ball on the bathroom floor she didn't know, but slowly she regained her senses to a faint caress of her cheek and crest. Someone tried to console her. It felt good. She didn't want it to stop, just lie there being comforted by a stranger she could imagine that everything was alright.

_Shhh. Everything _will_ be alright love. I promised to always come back to you, didn't I?_

Her eyes snapped open. There was no mistaking it. She knew Shepards _mental_ voice, for lack of a better term, better than her own. Frantically, her eyes darted over everything in the small room, searching for anything, any indication that this was more than just wishful thinking. More than yet another torment her useless brain had instigated for her.

There was no trace of anyone.

_I am sorry._

There it was again, as real as any joining, any meld she had shared with Shepard in the past, even more so.

"Where are you? Why did you leave me!"

_I'm here my love. I've been here with you all the time. I am sorry._

"Don't. Don't be sorry. Just come back to me. Please! I can't take it anymore..." sobbing again she covered her face with her hands. The gentle, ever so faint stroking of her head continued unabated.

_I will. I promise you, as I have before, I will find a way back to you. It might take years, but I will. I will come back to you!_

"I miss you so much. I hope, every second, every moment, that I wake up, next to you. That this is just a bad dream and we would laugh it off. It's awful but I would gladly trade the peace, the _perfection_," she almost spat the word, "to be with you again, even for a single night. But all I get are delusions. I'm likely imagining this as well. Look at the great Liara T'Soni! Hero of the Reaper War, crying in her bathroom, talking to herself..."

She was jolted upright by a green light encompassing her like a stasis bubble. She floated a couple of inches above the floor. It felt similar to the device that had captured her back on Therum, the one Shepard had saved her from a lifetime ago. Something pressed against her, electricity played on her skin. Shepard's voice boomed in her head.

_Snap out of it T'Soni! I. Will. Come. Back!_

Slowly the pressure lessened as she was let down on her feet. She was allowed to move again but the green light remained with her, dimmed but not extinguished. Gingerly Liara made her way out of the bathroom. She needed to sit down and the only accommodating furniture in easy range happened to be her bed. Dawn was still in it's infancy and would remain for some time, Nos Astra's location near the south polar region and the large planetary radius conspiring to prolong the transition. The whole room which would be still fairly dark at this time of day was bathed in a soft green light, emanating from every living thing in it. From the large plants in the corner, neglected yet thriving, to the omnipresent micro lifeforms, now visible wherever several of them clumped together, amplifying each other and tracing curious patterns across every surface. Strongest source of them all was Liara herself. Sitting on the edge of her bed, rigid and afraid, she asked the question she dreaded the answer of.

"Is it really you? Have you really come back?"

_Yes. Open your mind and I will show you._

A presence nuzzled against her consciousness, probing and searching. It felt so alien to Liara as it had always been her to open the connection and at first she was fearful. The presence continued its advances, now pleading to be granted entry. A raw need radiated from it, mingled with love and joy. And finally she let her barriers down. Immediately the presence flooded her and washed away every doubt.

Shepard was back.

* * *

**AN:** Having watched the ending again I noticed that Liara actually hasn't green eyes after Synthesis. Others like Ashley however have their colour changed towards green (not full green however). Chalk it down to 'artistic' freedom but in this story everyone has green, luminous eyes.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** Thank you for all the kind reviews and subscriptions/favs!  
This started from an impulse to give the Commander a ending she deserved. Be warned though! I'm not one to write smut or family tales. It's just not my style and I couldn't do it justice.  
I'm more of a geeky science type of guy that obsesses over some minute detail like sound cancellation and that words like 'Asari', 'Turian' etc. should be capitalized, similar to 'English', 'Italian' and so forth. I'm trying to shift the more boring things into Appendices though. Reading them is by no means required to understand the story but they might shed some light on unfamiliar concepts.

Also, I mentioned last time that this story is from Liara's POV. I may want to go back on that one. It's mainly Liara focused, but others will get their spotlight too. In small dosages.

In the previous chapter I didn't give Shepard a first name. That was intentional. Now, as the story progresses, I felt that she needed a name. I was always fond of Lea. So Lea it is.

On a different note: I just noticed that ShadowSoulN7 has already published a short story titled 'Green Eyes', set in the Mass Effect-verse here on ffnet. I sincerely apologize for not checking earlier!

But onward!

* * *

**AN2 - 14/7/2012**: Thanks to Ichihara Erioru's review I decided to rewrite the 'Questioning Shepard' section. He rightly pointed out that it did not fit and I myself have never been entirely satisfied with it either. I believe it is better now, giving more insight and expanding the reunion in a way I had not anticipated.

Please tell me what you think!

* * *

Tali was still unaccustomed to being exposed to unfiltered air on her face. A year ago she had been ecstatic by the prospect of discarding her suit but then the best estimates had hinted at years of slow acclimation. Synthesis had changed that estimate drastically. For a time after the End of the Reaper War the Quarians had refused to part with what had been their prison and salvation for three centuries. In that time they had developed a kind of love-hate relationship with their environment suits, bemoaning the fact that they were necessary but all the while deriving some form of cultural identity from it. More conservative minds had tried to enforce them as mandatory on Rannoch while more liberal forces wanted to abolish them completely. Tempers had flared hot but before anything ugly had happened the Admiralty Board stepped in. In the end it was decided to let everyone wear what they wanted, a practice that had been reality long before it had been decided by the powers that be. After they had forced the decision, following procedure, the Admirals had retired. But Tali, the youngest member of the Admiralty Board, never for a second thought they were off the hook. Without the constant state of emergency but now with a planet to rebuild leaders were desperately needed. Besides there was still the matter of de-weaponizing the Migrant Fleet. She was still needed by her people and would be for some time.

Tali and Garrus were strolling leisurely along the promenade of Nos Astra, she in an traditional environment suit sans faceplate, he in light Turian casual wear. Armour was a thing of the past. If anyone recognized them – or made the effort and consulted the vast extelligence everyone now had instant access to – they didn't show it.  
Despite the ongoing reconstruction efforts the city was still beautiful in a way that seemed to be reserved for Asari cities. Not even the handful of Reaper Destroyers silhouetted against the rising sun could subtract from the inherent elegance. The air smelled of sweet flowers, a smell Tali hadn't known a year before. Her suit had basic olfactory synthesisers but they were more geared towards practically than recreation. She had long since decided that smelling Illium was even better than seeing it.

The couple were regular visitors on the Asari world, despite their many duties on Rannoch and Palavan respectively. It was simultaneously an escape, a reason to be together and a duty of a different kind. A friend of theirs needed help and after everything that had happened it was the least they could do. They owed it to Liara to look after the heartbroken Asari. And they owed it to the memory of Lea Shepard.

They would meet up on either one of their homeworlds at least once every two weeks and take a shuttle to Illium. They had offered that Liara could stay with either of them but she had refused, apparently preferring the voluntary seclusion in midst Nos Astra, home of millions. Maybe she hoped that the teachings of her kind finally rubbed off. The Asari, being the longest lived of all the races by far, except for the Krogan, had long since developed a very present-focused philosophy when it came to loved ones. A typical Asari mourning was not a particularly teary affair, instead they told their favourite stories of their loved one, sharing in the joy that he had brought them in life. A typical Asari widow was at least equal laughs and tears. And then there was Liara. As atypical an Asari as Garrus was a Turian.

Last time Lea had died she had been inconsolable for the first couple of weeks but then pushed everyone away, burying herself in work. Her friends had worried for her but thought it merely a coping mechanism. In a sense they had been right but only later did they find out it had been much more. Now without even a faint hope, without even a body to bury she had become apathetic bordering to catatonic at times. Once they had to hack her door because she wouldn't answer. They had feared the worst, but Liara was just lying on her bed, staring at her picture of Ilos, taking no notice of her surroundings. The next time she did not answer, they had found her in front of the panorama window, staring at a box they did not recognize.

Garrus, ever the cop, soon noticed the pattern. The days were anniversaries of sorts, the first being their assault on Ilos, the second that on Hagalaz, deeply emotional and more than likely intimate moments between Liara and Shepard. A year ago they had attacked Cronos Station. It had been the last opportunity for them to be intimate, because soon after everything went straight to hell with no time or energy to spare. Needles to say, both Tali and Garrus were afraid for their friend.

They arrived at the cab station and hailed one of the automatic gilders. Sitting close to each other, fingers intertwined, they drew strength from each other as the skycar navigated the traffic towards Liara's apartment. They rode there in silence, each absorbed in their own thoughts on how to get the Asari to live again.

Credits were no longer necessary for many things, only a consent to store identification data required. Most public services were fully automated by now and required no labour from any sentient. Already it was clear that money was an outdated concept. The Volus collectively blew a gasket over this, thankfully only in the proverbial sense, but more open minded individuals rose to the challenge and developed a myriad new systems suited for a post-scarcity society. The again proverbial money was still out if economy would degrade to a barter or reputation system. Or something completely new.

They stood in front of the door to Liara's apartment. Tali took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. According to the agreement between the two, they would try the chime and only if Liara did not answer after five minutes would they hack the door. Those five minutes had gone by. The two traded a glance, communicating silently the old fashioned way. Without the help of their fancy new powers. He flicked his mandibles, a stubborn look in his eyes, she stared back defiantly, he crossed his arms in a way that reminded her of Shepard. Tali sighed exasperated in defeat and brought up her omni-tool. Not that she needed it to hack a door any more but old habits die hard. Just like the suits.

Prepared for the worst, they were greeted with a sight they most certainly weren't expecting. Liara was sitting in front of a console, furiously typing away. She seemed focused and... _happy_.  
They hadn't seen her like this since... Well since before Shepard had died. The first time.  
Something was wrong. Very wrong.

* * *

They had joined, filled with a desperate need, bottled up urges from a year that had lasted an eternity. It had not been a gentle joining like the ones before. Even after Shepard had returned from the dead they had been cautious, gently easing into each other. This had been different. All boundaries were shattered, cast aside in an instant. They flooded each other, souls clashing like two powerful hurricanes, absorbing each other to form a storm of the century that left a trail of destruction in his wake. It left Liara raw even now. It was a confirmation of their unity, that one could not exist without the other. It had mended, or started to mend, the hurt in their souls. Despite the lack of physical intimacy, which both of them had enjoyed during their joinings, it had never felt better. It felt right.

Much later, the woman sated, the scientist began to ask questions.  
Whatever had happened to the Commander had changed her in a very fundamental way. Clear thoughts were draining her fast and most of her reserve had been spent convincing Liara to let her in. Emotions, Feelings, her very essence had never felt more clear as during this meld however. Memories were a jumbled mess but still partially recognizable. It had been more than enough for their reunion, words paling in comparison to the raw, unfiltered emotions they shared.  
It was a problem now. How was Liara to make heads or tails from the situation when her only witness could not express her except for showing her feelings, confused memories and the like? What made matters worse was that Lea herself was confused of what had happened to her.  
Still Liara tried her best, starting with the most basic question she could think of, trying to interpret the confused images and complex feelings she received.  
"Where are you?" A flash of her apartment.  
"And before?" Still standing in the image of her own four walls she was catapulted straight up, climbing higher into the sky above Nos Astra, finally leaving Illium and later the galaxy itself behind. The view was spectacular. She could see the whole galaxy stretched out before her like she was inspecting the galaxy map on the Normandy.  
"What have you seen there?" The galaxy below her lit up in brilliant green light. She could clearly make out several densely populated areas, like the heart of Asari space, as they grew brighter than the rest.  
"Have you encountered others there?" She squinted at the green tendrils that slithered through the Galaxy and realized – the light came from hundreds of millions of green motes. Each representing a sentient being. She was startled by a memory of her own. A very young Liara, sitting by herself during lunch, none of the other children wanting to come near the pureblood. The loneliness hurt even after all these years, but she learned to make it her shield.  
"Did you have a body? How did you escape?" Again, she floated over the galaxy, standing apart from the mote-people. She was not like them. She watched over them, sifting through faces, always searching, urged on by a primal need to soothe the loneliness, the pain which was hers and an others. It gave her strength it spurred her on. Among the trillions of faces swimming by, unfocused and featureless, a face of one Asari became clearer. After a while Liara realized she saw herself, her green shadow mirroring the loneliness and pain she felt like a physical pain. And determination rushed through her, the struggle against a suddenly unrelenting tide that tried to carry her away again, away from the Shadow-Liara. But she fought on, never giving up. A memory pierced through. There had been a promise that meant everything to her. Then came a name. Her name. Liara. And the tide was gone.

Questions again forgotten the two resumed to reassure themselves of each other, pain and joy threatening to overwhelm them once again. Dimly Liara was aware of tears streaming down her face.

Late again, when Liara asked about what happened between their separation in London and... whatever happened at the Citadel she met a brick wall. Nothing. Shepard remembered absolutely nothing of what happened after Harbinger almost got her with his last attack. This frustrated Liara but there was nothing she could do. She was certain, that if she solved the mystery of what actually happened she would be closer to restore Lea. Or, failing that, join her wherever she was. She swore to herself, whatever the cost, Lea would not be remain alone much longer.

_I am yours. Always._

The human was not the only one that was hell bend to keep her promise. But for now, sleep, true sleep without haunting dreams, awaited her. Just as she drifted away towards it, she felt Lea once again settling more deeply into her mind, her very being. Still joined to her true love she floated away and dreamed of little blue children with green eyes.

* * *

Liara had been working non-stop ever since Lea had left her again, not without reassuring her that she would come back. However it would take time for her to gather enough focus to cross over from wherever she was. Not a year this time, but definitely a couple of days, maybe a week or two. Liara had felt a little guilty. She feared that her stubbornness had forced Lea to spend much more energy than necessary.

Currently she was bringing herself up to speed on the Green Wave. Her friends, in an attempt to distract her, had explained the basics to her but she hadn't listened. She was almost completely in the dark. Now she was rested and focused and more than motivated. No wonder she didn't hear the door. Only after Tali called her name the third time did she notice the presence of her two friends. She did not, however, notice the worry in the Quarian's voice and on their faces.

"Oh hello Tali. Garrus. I'm sorry, I didn't hear you. Please come in and make yourselves comfortable, I will be there in a minute," she said over her shoulder, barely looking at them before turning back to the terminal.

The couple made their way cautiously forward as if stepping into an ambush. Settling themselves on the sofa they stared at Liara trying to figure out what had happened to cause this incredible change over such a short time. And how to approach her now. Their object of interest meanwhile seemed to have forgotten them already.  
After five minutes Liara stopped typing, instead spreading her hands over the interface. Apparently she just figured out how to access the information directly. Her eyes flickered rapidly under closed eyelids, reminiscent of REM-sleep, a sure sign of an active link.

Maintaining the link was difficult for a first timer. Usually all they could take were a couple of minutes before they had to rest. More seasoned users could spend longer times immersed and some were even able to dial down the link so that it could be processed in the background. Liara wasn't usual and as an Asari and powerful biotic her mind was very well trained. She broke the connection after ten minutes, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands and swaying slightly in her chair from dizziness.

Tali immediately rushed to her side to steady her, while Garrus went to the kitchenette to fetch a glass of water. They both remembered their first times and how weak they had felt after it. Liara was reminded of her first meld with Shepard more than six years ago. That too had been a first time for her, followed by a spell of dizziness.

Steadying herself, she took the offered glass with a nod of gratitude, drowning it in one gulp. Tali was kneeling in front of her, holding her free hand in hers, worry written on her beautiful face while Garrus hovered beside them. Idly Liara remembered a comment her father had made. The Quarian's sure did give the Asari a run for their money. Shaking her head to lose that stray thought and the last tendrils of dizziness, she began to smile. Not the sad smile she had worn through the Reaper War but her innocent maiden smile from their time they had hunted Saren.

"She is back," she whispered with glee, certain that with the help of her friends everything would turn out right. Together they would solve the mystery and bring her lover home.

Garrus sighed. A sigh, like a laugh, can convey many meanings. This one was a response to the confirmation of a dreaded thing. They both had anticipated something along these lines. It had happened before, when Liara embarked on her mad quest to recover Shepard's remains. She had been right of course but back then it had appeared a fool's errand. Later they had regretted that they hadn't helped but this time was different. It might have spared Liara - and Lea - a lot of pain and misery if they had but hindsight is 20/20. This time they hadn't just given up, Garrus had personally led the search for the Commander. Thousands of volunteers had combed the remains of the Citadel, looked into every corner, analysed even the last scrap of human remains but other than a trail of her blood that lead to a room where both Anderson's and the Illusive Man's corpses had been found there had been no trace of her, at all. Shepard had vanished and it was believed that she had had to activate the beam from somewhere very near to it's origin. So near in fact, that the energies released had completely disintegrated her body.

Of course that theory was less than satisfying but they had exhausted their options.

Tali had to fight back tears. Lea had been like a big sister and Liara was her best friend. The two of them had been there for each other when they had been the strange ones back on the Normandy SR-1 and even later they had shared their problems. Much like Shepard and Garrus where dusting each other off, so did Tali and Liara. Seeing her friend gripped by this mad fancy almost broke her heart. Lea had given her anything – respect, closure with her father, friends, introduced her to her boyfriend who was definitely husband material, a home plus accompanying homeworld. It was singularly unfair that in giving everyone in the galaxy a future she had had to give up hers. Hers and Liara's.  
Now the person she had cared about the most, the one she had put before everyone else, was hurting deeply, breaking down.

Liara saw the emotions play out on her friends faces. She realized what a fool she had been. How mad she must sound to them, speaking of impossible things without hard proof. They hadn't been there. They didn't know. Whatever she would say, they wouldn't believe her. Even if she showed them what had happened last night, they still wouldn't. She was alone in this.  
That they were right and she truly was going mad crossed her mind briefly. The thought was dismissed as soon as it came. No, it had been real. _Now how do I appease them so that they won't get in my way. What would Shepard do? Play to their expectations. What do they expect from me? A mad rambling of course. That I embark on a fool's errand. Let's give them that, but a harmless one. Think Liara!_

"Goddess, I am sorry. You must think me a fool!

"What I wanted to say is that I may have a lead where Shepard's remains are." _Good Liara, not an outright lie but misleading._

Garrus stance changed slightly. He wasn't convinced, dubious that the Asari could have found any new lead he and some of the best and brightest of the galaxy had overlooked in the weeks they had spent looking for Shepard. But he was ready to roll with it. Tali still worried for her friend but was now cautiously hopeful. Maybe Liara really had a new lead. Finding the body might bring her closure and the action would distract her at the very least. And who knew – with all that new knowledge they just might stand a chance at reviving her. Lea still held the record on longest dead-time but others had been revived successfully after hours and even days without any brain activity. Cerberus had been hardly the first to do research in that direction, only the most recent. Still, it would require that the body, and more importantly the brain was moderately preserved, cellular decomposition not having destroyed the brain. The Citadel was mostly abandoned, still orbiting earth, and many places were now exposed to cold space, almost ideal circumstances in other words.

"It's good to hear that you have found your drive again, Liara. We are here for you, if you need us," said Tali with a brave smile.

"That's kind of you to offer. Right now I have to catch up with things. I'm rather out of the loop, as they say. I will call you when I'm finished with that." Liara was struggling not to show her relief. In her years as a Broker she had learned to mask her true feelings quite well – to strangers. Friends and lovers however were an entirely different matter. Shepard had seen right through her mask when they had first met on Illium, after the Human had been restored and even Garrus who had also been present had picked up something. Kissing Lea on impulse had certainly not helped but that was the problem – she just couldn't completely mask her emotions to those she cared about.

"Yea, that's good to hear Liara. But what kind of lead have you uncovered?" the ex-cop couldn't help himself asking, even if it earned him a sharp jab to the side, courtesy to his girlfriend's elbow.

_Crap. Now what T'Soni. Think! No don't look around like a cornered animal! Look him in the eyes and tell him something. Anything!_

"It's more a hunch than a proper lead. You see, ever since finding out that the Citadel was the Catalyst I wondered how they would connect. I've studied the plans to the crucible quite intensively and while the general shape fits so well, that I actually can't believe we have been so dense and not seen it sooner, there are still... _odd shapes_ that don't really fit on anything on the Citadel. In particular, I remember some cavities near the docking ports where there is no corresponding feature on the Citadel." Not entirely a lie either. Liara had noticed those patterns but never thought anything of it. There were a hundred and one possible explanations for those minuscule deviations and nothing really worth investigating. But it would give her time. Liara knew that she had to solve the puzzle of the Green Wave. Lea was in there, not on the Citadel.

"Hmm, odd. When I looked over the plans back when we searched for her, I noticed nothing of that kind. Are you sure Liara? Maybe your memory is playing you a trick?" inquired Garrus. He prided himself to be very thorough, especially when his best friend was involved. Of course he had checked for hidden places, but the maps of both the Citadel and the Crucible had not shown anything of what Liara mentioned. "I'm sorry Liara, I can show you the blue prints if you like."

Liara did not respond immediately, instead she again activated her link, searching for the plans herself. A brief comparison told her that Garrus was right. Crucible and Citadel were a perfect match, no mysterious free spaces. Nothing were a hidden room could have been hidden. _Odd._

"I don't understand this! I remember very clearly to have made a comparison between the two and they did not fit perfectly," suddenly her interest was piqued for real. Small discrepancies in the construction of objects that were measured in kilometres was one thing. Those same discrepancies suddenly vanishing from the plans now quite another. "Someone has to have changed the plans after we have build the Crucible!"

"Don't be ridiculous, Liara. The new extranet doesn't work that way. Tampering with information so many were privy to is just not possible. You must be mistaken," Garrus did not enjoy crushing Liara's hopes, but a wild goose chase wouldn't help her either. He would pay later for it, judging by the look Tali shot him, but he would be damned if he let Liara debase herself like this.

"Look, if Liara says she remembers, then we got to trust her. Let me ask you something Garrus. Has you memory played tricks on you since the _change_? Or have you heard anyone say 'That's strange. I could have sworn it had been different?'," Tali joined the discussion, siding with Liara. "Right, you haven't. Our recall is perfect Garrus, like the photographic memory of the Drell and the Salarians. So is Liara's. If she says she remembers something, then we have to belief her."

And with that Garrus' resistance was put down. He might have confronted Liara, but Liara _and_ Tali? Not even Shepard would have dared. Probably not even with backup.

"Luckily the matter is resolved rather easily," Liara diplomatically intervened. "During the Reaper War Shepard and I put a contingency plan into place. Much like the Protheans and hundreds of races before them we seeded beacons of information on uninhabited worlds for future races to find. We included the plans of the Crucible and to be extra sure the information is stored in the most durable form that we knew of. Also there is no record where we sent the beacons. But I remember one in particular. Eletania.

"You might remember the world Garrus. We were looking for a missing probe and some local simians had stolen the data module. We spend hours looking through their excrements."

That made both Tali and Garrus laugh. They remembered the mission well. It had definitely been one of the more memorable ones. Particularly Ash's outburst at Wrex who had caught himself one of the 'space monkeys' as the Humans had called the indigenous animals and intended to roast it over a fire. Garrus had immediately seen the good sense in Wrex' endeavour but Tali and Liara had joined forces with Ashley. Shepard, diplomat that she had been, had diffused the situation and forbid them. To ease tension she took Garrus and Wrex to the next camp while the rest of the group stayed behind. There she ordered Wrex to catch one of the beasts and Garrus to get a fire starting. It had been a long time for her too since she last had real meat. Having travelled Asia in her youth she had no qualms, eating something that looked like a monkey either. Lea Shepard had had a mischievous streak when she knew herself with friends.  
The delicious meal had been well worth the scolding the three of them had received after the rest found out.

"Alright Liara. We will check it out. But only if I get to grill one of the monkeys," the Turian conceded only half jokingly.

* * *

**Warning – this Appendix might be a bit philosophical. Skip if you don't like that kind of thing.**

Extelligence is a word coined by Jack Cohen and Ian Stewart. They introduced it in their book 'Figments of Reality', but if you are looking for a more relaxed read, take up the Science of the Discworld books, cowritten by Terry Pratchett. I believe they cover Extelligence in the second volume.

Extelligence describes the knowledge that is accessible to us Humans as 'cultural capital'; basically everything from legends, books, videotapes to Wikipedia. This concept figures extremely well into my take of Synthesis.

Imagine an infinite plane. The plane represents all the knowledge we could possibly possess. This is called a phase space in mathematics/physics but that's irrelevant. Let's call it extelligence-space (ES).  
Now of course the knowledge that we humans have accumulated (and not forgotten) covers only a small part of this boundless plain but even this limited part is still huge! To give you a scope: the entire world wide web consists of something like three zetabytes – that's a billion terabyte each.

However there are limitations. We might not be able to access everything we would like. Some things never got digitalized, others are heavily guarded (like national secrets) and still other things we simply can't comprehend. I can probably download a transcript of the seven classics of Chinese literature in their original version but it won't do me any good. I can't read the symbols and I don't speak the language. This is the complicity (a complex yet simple process) of int- and extelligence. I need my intelligence to interpret the vast extelligence for it to be meaningful.

Synthesis removes many barriers. First it takes the extranet further than before. There is no more "Human knowledge in the ES". It pools all the knowledge from every sentient race that has been turned into a Reaper (or is still around) and makes it accessible to everyone at any time in the blink of an eye. It might be a privacy nightmare but it's still pretty awesome if you ask me. Forget google or wikipedia - this is more like the Matrix where you can download Kung Fu!  
And it's not just theoretical knowledge. Every martial arts enthusiast will tell you, that knowing how to do a certain move is a far cry from actually mastering it. But that's what the semi-synthetic bodies are for. Who needs shitty muscle memory when your brain has voluntary (but automated) control over your body on a cellular level?

As amazing such a world would be – it could become pretty boring, at least for a drama based story like this one. So things don't work quite that way.

What intrigued me the most during EDI's voice over was that the Synthetics had perfection of form (in our case – perfect access to knowledge) but lacked the Organics instinctive understanding.

So this is what Synthesis did, at least in my head:  
Organics (besides receiving upgraded bodies) can now access any knowledge they desire unless it's personal knowledge. This might need a little get used to though. And they still need their intelligence to make sense of it all. True, learning a new language for example has never before been this easy but there are still hurdles to overtake.  
Synthetics have now the capacity to understand where before they just knew. I might be talking semantics here but for me there is a clear distinction. For example I know the Dirac equation but I don't necessarily understand it. And it's more geared towards social understanding anyway. EDI showed glimpses of understanding during the games but then, she was based on Reaper tech which just fucks with logic every chance it gets. What's important, that understanding can not be bestowed upon somebody by the flick of a wand. We all had to grow up. And this is precisely what the Geth have to do now. The Quarians are helping but they have their own problems as well.

Post-scarcity economics are something of a puzzle to me. What happens, when our every reasonable need is fulfilled? What if growing food, building houses and all that isn't a problem any more, because automation has kicked in full force? Would we still need money? And if, how are we going to earn it? The service sector can only supply so many jobs and not everyone is suited for them.  
Some high-end post-scarcity societies in literature like 'The Culture' from Iain Banks' novels of the same series don't use anything in place of money. There you only have to convince one of the near all-powerful Minds to grant you whatever wish.  
Others, less sophisticated societies use a form of reputation system, where other citizens give you props for your 'work', musings or whatever and you can use that to 'buy' all kind of non-standard things. It's similar to money but less centralized. More like a peer-to-peer network. Like bitcoin.

Another, sometimes much darker vision is some kind of caste system like in 'Brave New World', where some few oligarchs hoard all the wealth. I fear we are headed into this direction, but I hope it's only transient.

And yea yea. Turian's are dextro-based, so Garrus couldn't have shared the monkey with Shepard and Wrex. Let's just say the pleasure gave him indigestion. It had been worth it.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: **Thank you so much for the amazing wave of support, both in form of reviews and favs/subs!

Also, since FFnet apparently got rid of the notification email when a chapter gets updated (as in replaced): Ichihara Erioru pointed out, that the paragraph where Liara "questions" Shepard is not up to snuff. I agree. I never was actually satisfied with it. My intention was to convey the confusion and disjointness of the whole thing but I did a bad job. **So I changed it**. It's a lot more angsty now but I feel it's much better. There isn't much new in terms of hard information, but it might give some insight how the Commander has spent her last year.

Written to _Little Talks_ by Of Monsters and Men.

* * *

Liara was feeling very anxious. They were orbiting Elatania and the sensors were already sweeping the planet for the beacon but no result yet. It would have landed somewhere along the equator but that still left a huge area to cover. Besides the beacon was designed to stay hidden, in case the Reapers ever had reason to visit the planet. It was still possible to find it but it would take a long time even with their scanning equipment which was at least on par with that of the Reapers and her insider information. Tali's estimate put the time frame at one week, maybe two.

Liara feared in all that time without much to do, Garrus or Tali would continue to poke holes in her story, figuring out that this, while worthwhile to investigate in itself, was only a diversion. That she kept a vital part from them.

She needed to go back to searching for Shepard!

But right now there was nothing she could do. She spent her time on the Extranet, as most people still called the vast information network that had replaced its predecessor. Had Synthesis not changed her, even the renowned Shadow Broker would have been stranded in the vast sea of possible avenues to pursue, doomed to wander from information node to information node.  
Every species had met the phenomenon the Humans had called the 'Wiki Walk' in the early days of their Internet, where you could wander from something mundane like general information on light bulbs to a treatise of ancient Sumerian mathematics or STD's transmitted by Macaca mulatta, more commonly known as rhesus monkeys.  
In this new environment it was even easier to get distracted – one curious thought could derail the unprepared for hours.

Liara was getting pretty frustrated with the situation. Despite the huge leap the Galaxy had taken in both knowledge and understanding she was no closer to solving the mystery of Shepard's situation than she had been back on Illium. All the brightest minds from literally billions of years and no one had a clue what had really happened when the Green Wave had hit.

Oh the obvious effects were, well, quite obvious. But how exactly had it happened? How was it possible that their bodies were machines at a cellular level but more like organics on a macroscopic level? And the change had been so rapid it was almost frightening. Life across the galaxy had changed over _minutes_.  
It was no secret that life originated in space. Most ecologies, seemingly separated by tens if not hundreds or thousands of light-years, were far to similar for any other explanation. Some adventurous xenobilogists even proposed the theory of a galactic evolution. Considering the fact that most intelligent species followed a certain phenotype it wasn't that far-fetched. The theory only lacked proof. But just like planetary evolution took millions of years, galactic evolution worked over hundreds of millions of years. Not over the time it took to cook an egg!

And how did the connection all sentients and even some non-sentient machines shared, work? As an Asari, who had long ago embraced a similar philosophy, Liara wasn't as shocked as some other species like the much more private Hanar, but the ease with which the link worked puzzled her. It was akin to the mind meld abilities of her own species, the memory manipulation of the Protheans and even the platform-based FTL communications of the Geth, yet it was neither of them. But why? Why hadn't the Green Wave completed the change, gave them all the same tools?

Besides the encounter with Shepard, Liara hadn't tried to meld with anyone, but she felt fairly certain she still could, while a couple of non-Asari– say Tali and Garrus – could not. They could only share surface thoughts and their memory sharing was very limited. It was more like watching a vid with commentary and not the full spectrum of emotions, feelings and smells.

And from what she had read on the Extranet, the Geth were still able to communicate with every other Geth at FTL speed from anywhere in the galaxy, yet all other races needed access to communication terminals. But they needn't be connected to any comm-buoys. Why? It made no sense!

"GAAAH!"

Frustrated, Liara pushed herself away from the terminal. She needed to get out of here. Tali, sitting across from her in the common room of the little frigate they had commandeered, raised a meticulously trimmed eyebrow. It had come as a little shock that the Quarians had hair very similar to the Humans. Now there were _three_ species that shared very similar traits with only minor variations. Uncanny, considering that they had developed on different planets half a galaxy separated.

Tali, never having left her environment suit for over two decades had been confronted with the reality of personal hygiene and grooming for the first time. Perfectionist that she was, she had mastered it in the shortest time and practiced it with almost religious zeal. Some of her fellow Quarians however weren't accustomed yet. They often forgot to shower or trim their beards. Some of the more self-conscious stayed in their sealed environment suits for that very reason.

"I'll take the shuttle to the surface. I will be back for dinner," Liara told her friend just as she was about to exit the room.

"Are you okay Liara?"

"Yes, I am fine. I just need the sky over my head and some open space to think. Don't worry I will be back soon," she answered, knowing full well that both Tali and Garrus still worried for her as a matter of principle.

* * *

Elatania was quite peaceful when one hadn't to chase after indigenous lifeforms and their excrements.

Sitting on a low hill, a hundred meters from her shuttle, Liara mulled over what she had learned today, without much success. Her thoughts kept wandering and she would catch herself reminiscing about silly nothings, memories of the scarce quite moments shared with Lea, small but adorable mannerisms she had observed when the Human hadn't looked. Like the stance she had unconsciously copied now – hugging her legs, chin resting on her knees, gaze far away. It brought a smile to her face. Goddess, had she missed smiling!

Absent-mindedly she let her fingers trail the ankle-high grass, wondering what the plant may have made of the change. Did it still feel itself to be grass? Was it aware of its brothers around it?

Her eyes, previously half closed snapped wide open. That was the solution!

_Goddess, let it work!_

Tentatively she reached out with her mind towards the patch of grass she gently stroked with her long fingers. She felt herself a child again, struggling with the first biotic exercises, wishing for the faintest rewards of her actions.

It had taken young Liara a whole year of intense training before she was able to lift even the tiniest of rice grains but now she had no patience for a long and frustrating process. She wanted results now. Gritting her teeth against the strangeness she anticipated she pushed harder.  
And was surprised to meet no walls, no barriers or complications. One determined push and the plant accepted her.

No. That wasn't right. It wasn't the plant that she had touched but the ecosystem of the planet itself. Through the meld, Liara gasped.

_It's so vast!_

Had she not shared Shepard's experience, even dulled as she now realized it had been, she would have been overwhelmed. A wild cacophony of impressions, feelings, sensory input – sheer life! - engulfed her, pulled her mind in several directions. There was the slow awareness of trees, moments measured in days not seconds, to the frantic action of short-lived insects in its bark, and even the strangeness of bacteria. And there was even primitive thought by the 'space monkeys'! Nothing sophisticated of course but at the same time more than mere animal instinct. Liara was startled to discover that primitive as they were, they still had a concept of love. For a moment she basked in the love a mother felt for her new-born, not feeling like an intruder but rather part of them, of their tribe and the whole planet.

For the next hour she simply explored the new sensations, sampling different lives – different _ways_ of life no Asari could have imagined.  
Or was it a whole day? She had lost her sense of time, experiencing a whole world at different speeds. The intelligent species had almost the same perception of time with the notable exception of the Salarians and the Elcor who lived a faster respectively slower life. The Asari had long since learned that a meld with them could screw with the inner clock.

Liara was lost. There was a real danger to simply disperse herself in the vastness of the planetary organism.  
_Is this how Lea felt? Has this happened to her?_

With that simple thought came another presence, one she was intimately familiar with. Lea wasn't as coherent as back on Illium, still recovering her strength, but simply brushing her essence was all Liara needed to pull herself back together, disentangle her consciousness from the planetary unity. She felt a sense of loss. It had been comforting to be part of something greater, but that was only part of it. As soon as her sense of self returned to her, Shepard's presence dimmed until Liara could barely feel it at the edge of her being. Back in the physical world she cried out in anguish. But she pushed on.

Not being a part but still floating in the consciousness of a whole planet she could now trace how subtle patterns emerged. It was a ecologists wet dream but Liara had a single goal and no inclination to satisfy her scientific curiosity. She had to find the beacon.

Considering what patterns the landing of a small spacecraft might have left in its wake she branched herself out, hunting for telltale signs, but not allowing herself to indulge in the singular experience of unity.

Luckily Elatania had been undisturbed over the last hundred years. Besides her own shuttle the Normandy-SR1's Mako had been the only extra-planetary intruder that had left its mark. And the beacon of course. Still it was difficult to sift through billions of sensory inputs, most of them thoroughly alien to her. The only redeeming factor was the speed at which it happened. Liara was confident it was only a matter of hours.

In the end the monkeys proofed the most valuable tool at her disposal. Disturbances in the way plants were dispersed gave her the initial clue but she had no way to confirm that the beacon's landing had been the source. She had tried to analyze the chemical changes such an event would bring with the help of bacteria but they were just to foreign. She settled for coaxing the ubiquitous simians to investigate a promising site. It was not as fast as she would have liked but since she had narrowed down the possibilities to a hundred she just might make dinner after all. Oh how surprised Garrus and Tali would be!

* * *

Tali and Garrus sat in silence at the prepared table, clasping hands. They had called Liara when she hadn't turned up for dinner, which was slowly turning cold before them, but had not received any response. They worried of course but decided to give the Asari a little bit more time.

Real food! Tali could still not believe it. After a life on nutrient paste, sterilized to the point of tasteless blandness, her first bite had been a revelation. The whole experience of simply eating still left her shaking of pleasure at times. The smell, the taste, the texture of even the most simple dish appeared heavenly to the Quarian who still had problems handling the delicate utensils needed to get the food into her mouth. More often than not she discarded fork and knife and simply used her hands, much to Garrus amusement.

On Rannoch many Quarians indulged in the new art form of cooking, experimenting with different tastes and rediscovering ancient Quarian cuisine. It was the one unifying cultural change everyone shared. All agreed that eating was good.

Tali's omnitool chirped, indicating an incoming call. Seeing who it was she breathed a sigh of relief just as she saw Garrus who had looked over her shoulder relax. Accepting the call she prepared herself to scold her friend.

"Liara, where are you? Dinner's almost cold and you know how much I hate eating cold!"

"Sorry," the Asari looked properly sheepish. "But you are never going to believe it! I have found the beacon!"

"You have what?" Garrus and Tali both exclaimed in surprise.

* * *

"So let me get this straight. You melded with the planet to find out where the beacon went down. What the fuck T'Soni?" Garrus pinched his nose like she had seen Shepard do on many occasions in a sign of exasperation.

_How curious. It appears I'm not the only one infected with her mannerisms._

Liara still grinning sheepishly, nodded her head in agreement.

"I repeat. What the fuck? I thought Asari could only meld with other sentient beings? And then you come along and did it with a whole planet," Garrus continued dryly. The double meaning was not lost on Liara and she huffed in indignation, which brought a grim smile to Garrus face. Yes, Liara was catching on much faster these days.

"Well, what does it matter? We are changed," Liara tried to divert the conversation. "Just because no one has tried it before doesn't mean it can't work."

"Oh I belief it works, alright," Garrus conceded, gesticulating towards the beacon. "Still. What. The. Fuck?"

Deciding to ignore the Turian, Liara made her way towards the waiting beacon. It had been designed to hide itself. Automatic systems had made a small cave to hide it from prying eyes. Currently from their vantage point near the ground it was obviously an artificial structure but from above it could have been a natural hill. In time it would integrate more seamlessly into the landscape.

As she approached the heart of the beacon she brought up her omnitool, sending an activation signal to bring it back online. Had they waited a couple of hundred years, the beacon would have activated on its own as soon as it recognized an organic intruder, ready to assist them in any way to help them defeat the ancient enemy, but only years after the Reaper invasion all system laid dormant.

Unlike the Protheans before her, Liara had not taken any chances. The beacons were designed to be operable even by primitive civilizations, allowing them a rapid advancement that would catapult them up to the stars in a few generations even if they barely knew how to work metal. She wasn't stupid however. There were safeguards in place to prevent abuse of the power the discovery would give whoever got his hands on one of her beacons.

Machinery hummed to life and presently a copy of Glyph, the VI she had appropriated from the old Shadow Broker popped out of its holding slot.

"Greetings Doctor T'Soni. It has been four hundred twenty-three days since your last login. Would you like to run a diagnostic scan?"

"No thank you Glyph. Please display the plans of the Crucible and the Citadel side-by-side. Run a comparison between the two, check for spaces between the two where rooms could be hidden."

"Right away Doctor T'Soni."

Tali, Garrus and Liara looked on as the two holograms slowly rotated before them. Gently folding out their respective arms they began to connect. Indicators flashed over the structures, marking the progress of the analysis. It didn't take long.

"Analysis complete Doctor T'Soni," the orb announced. "There have been no hidden rooms found. The two structures fit perfectly."

"Well, that was a bust. Good idea though, maybe..." Garrus tried to not say 'I told you so' outright.

"No," Liara cut him off. Confidently striding forward she opened the main storage compartment. In order to conserve the data for as long as possible she had used biotically reinforced diamonds as medium, the most durable material known in the galaxy. The information was imprinted as lattice errors, nothing short of destroying the crystal would corrupt it.

Squinting her eyes she looked at the crystal. She knew how the information was written on them, knew how it could be read by the machines. Why couldn't she read them?

She refused to give up, knowing now in her heart that part of the answer was hidden in the gem before her. Her eyes flashed in a brilliant green, reflecting of the lattice and the information hidden within, tracing a curious pattern on the walls. Liara took in all of it, noticing where missing atoms disturbed the interference, distorting the normally regular pattern to something that held the answer. Slowly she rotated the crystal, changing the pattern on the walls.

"Just as suspected," she finally spoke. "The plans Glyph has shown us are not the same as on the crystal. Something is indeed trying to hide the real information from us."

"The. Fuck. Liara?" slowly turning back to her friends she saw them standing there, mouths opened in shock, incredulous expression on their faces.

Suddenly it seemed like a good idea to fall unconscious.

* * *

**AN**: There's an academic paper on 'Wiki Walking' somewhere on the Web. Look the term up on tvtropes and you'll find the link. And if you never went on a Wiki Walk – I can wholeheartedly recommend that page. Start with something like 'Crowning moment of funny' or 'Did you just punch out Cthulhu?' and just go from there.

You can thank me later. Or curse me. Whatever.


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Sorry for the short chapter. Writing is slow at the moment, because my other story has taken over most of my head. Still felt I had to give you something. Besides I try to time the fluffy conclusion of this fic with the darker comings in Fate Reversed. Might keep me balanced.

* * *

Liara woke with a start. Confused she took in her surroundings, expecting to be in her apartment on Illium. She was not. As Garrus entered through the lock, alerted by her abrupt movements, it came back to her. This was the ship they had taken to Elatania, she had melded with the planet and discovered the beacon. And the alterations of the Crucible's plans. That was the last thing she remembered.

"How long have I been unconscious?" it was the logical explanation. "What happened down there?"

"You tell me," Garrus said with a little bit of his usual mirth. "First you fuck the planet, then you pull that stunt with the freaky laser-eyes. And in the end you lost consciousness," he paused for a moment. "We don't do unconscious anymore Liara. We are either conscious or dead. This shit is getting weirder by the minute."

"How long Garrus?"

"Oh, just over twenty-four hours," he waved his hand dismissively. "Nothing to worry about, if we were back in the old days. Medical scans came back clean, insisting you were closer to sleeping than true unconsciousness.

"Tali's down there with one of the Geth, examining the data on the crystal the same way you did. They have confirmed what you said – the plans are not the same.

"Tali's running in circles. No matter what reading devices she uses, the plans are the same as on the extranet. Yet when a sentient directly reads the data there are the distinctions you mentioned. Someone or something is getting to extreme lengths to conceal them. Why?"

"I really don't know Garrus. I never expected this to get out of hand. I..." Liara broke off, just as she was about to admit that this was not her highest priority right now. She had felt Shepard again! On the planet, part of the planet!

Garrus regarded her for a full minute. Neither was inclined to speak immediately.

"What are you not telling me T'Soni?"

Liara averted her eyes, not wanting to face the Turian. "Nothing."

"Liara..." he almost growled, but not without affection. "I've known you now for what? Five years? Can't believe it's only been five years. By now I have figured out when you are holding something back."

"It's not like you would believe me anyway Garrus."

"Try me," he asked dryly. "I've seen some crazy shit, as she called it, during my time with Shepard and the last couple of days... Let's just say I would be surprised if Shepard jumped into the room right now and shooting me with a kid's pistol, yelling 'Enkindle this!'," seeing that his little joke had made the Asari smile at least a little, he let his mandibles twitch in humour. The levity of the moment was short-lived however. "Please Liara, we want to help you, but we can only do that if you let us."

Liara wanted nothing more – well except for one thing obviously - than to just tell her friend. But she was afraid. Despite his words could he really believe in what she had experienced? What would he do if he thought her insane? She was so sick of their pity! She just wanted her Lea back, was that too much to ask?

Her resolve finally crumbling, Liara's shoulders sagged in defeat.

"That's just it Garrus. Shepard is alive but I have no idea where she is," Liara admitted with a small voice. "Or rather, I think I know where she is but I do not know how to get her back."

Garrus made a hrumphing sound but otherwise didn't seem too surprised. He motioned for Liara to continue.

"She came to me the day you met me on Illium. There is no doubt in my mind that it was truly her. When I melded with the biosphere of Elatania she was there again. I don't believe I would have been successful without her help," seeing the inquisitive gleam in the Turians eyes she stopped.

"When you say, she came to you, you don't mean physically, right? I guess you melded with her."

"It would be more correct to say that she joined with me. It was unlike anything we have shared before." Garrus didn't miss the content smile that appeared on Liara's face, the far away look in her eyes. He couldn't help himself to fire a quick jape.

"I don't guess I have to play – what do Humans call it? Ah, godfather in a couple of months?"

Seeing Liara turn an embarrassed shade of purple made him shake with laughter. It was good to have Liara back among the living. That she could react to his banter sealed the deal for him.

Regaining her composure Liara managed a weak smile. She didn't mind the jokes at her expanse that much anymore. After Lea had taken her under her wings and explained that they weren't always meant to hurt, she had relaxed a lot, even if she was still awkward in social encounters at times.

Liara had been subjected to much abuse during her childhood, the other Asari children constantly bullying and making fun of her because of her pureblood status. Her new friends, all of them non-Asari, had no such prejudices. They didn't understand how her parentage could possibly make her less of a person. Some of them, like Lea even got angry at the very thought of the intolerance that had been heaped on Liara and had been very vocal the few times some of the Asari they had met had taken issue of her because of it.

It did not stop her friends from making fun of Liara, but they were always careful not to hurt her feelings. It took a little getting used to, but after some time the jokes made Liara feel more included instead of cast out, something she would never have expected. She had even begun to tease back much to the delight of her friends.

She was tempted to pay Garrus back in kind and tell him that she was indeed pregnant, just to see his reaction. Liara was certain he would be happy for her. After he got over the shock, that is.

"So you believe me?" she asked, almost pleaded, deciding to bring the conversation back on track instead.

"Sure, why not? Something is going on, and it's not the first time the Commander makes an unexpected entrance. Seriously, sometimes I think she ducked out of view for a couple of moments just to make her reappearance more dramatic," he said, eliciting another small smile. Sitting down beside Liara. "Listen, I know I've been kind of an ass back on Illium. And I don't know if I had believed you back then when you said Shepard's still alive," he reached out to give her hands, folded in her lap, a gentle squeeze. "But I believe you now and I will be with you every step of the way. Same goes for Tali.

"By the way, you do realize she will pester you until you have thought how to do that thing with the eyes?" he finished with a smirk.

"But I don't know how I did that!" the Asari protested.

"That just makes it more of a challenge. I almost pity you. That girl can be relentless," he replied with a grin. In his opinion that wasn't always a bad thing. Sure left him sore sometimes but it was always worth it. Hell, was it worth it. "Anyhow, you said you had an idea where Shepard is? Is she some kind of ghost?"

"No and that is part of the problem. Are you familiar with Pantheism?"

"Isn't that some Human religious concept? Like the Asari belief that every life in the Galaxy is connected?"

"Not exactly, no. Human religions are quite varied and even inside any given religion there are many different doctrines, sometimes even conflicting ones.

"One of the most prominent religions has a single God-figure in its centre, much like the Goddess Athame. Ancient belief pictured him as a white beard in the sky," she said with a smile. Her main interest might have been the Protheans but she was still a Xenosociologist and studying different alien cultures might help her main work. She had been startled to find that irrational belief back when she had first studied Human culture, shortly after the First Contact War. How could hair, wonderful as it was touching it, be a god?

She knew better now, having asked Shepard about it one time. The beard image was mostly comic in nature, something that told her much about Humans. In contrast, even after they had abandoned their ancient belief the Asari never ridiculed the Goddess.

"Pantheism was a reaction to the discovery that planet Earth might not the centre of the universe. It states that God is in everything, is part of everything."

"So you belief Shepard is this Human god? I think that's a bit crazy. Even for us."

"No! Nothing like that," Liara was quick to amend. "I just think Lea is somewhere in us all, in every living thing in the galaxy. She is part of what changed us."

"Ah, so just the galaxy, not the universe." Garrus nodded, ignoring Liara's protestations for a moment. "Relax. I'm joking. I think I understand. So you belief somehow Shepard got spread out across the galaxy during... whatever that Green Wave-thing was and is now... where?"

Liara huffed at being made fun of again. "That is the problem. From what I can tell during our meld, she is not in one single point and neither is she truly spread out. She is more apart and yet a part of everything. It is frustrating trying to make sense of it!" she threw her hands up in exasperation. "When she showed me where she was back in Illium, it was like looking at the map of the galaxy on the Normandy. But at the same time I felt I could see everything that went on inside it down to the lowliest bacteria. I swam through a sea of millions of faces but was never part of the sea.

"Yet here on Elatania, when I melded with the planet's ecosystem, Lea was there as well. I didn't realize it at first because it was so vast but she was there, everywhere. I almost lost myself in the meld. Then she pulled herself together just enough to make me remember who I was and what I was trying to do."

Again they fell silent, Liara brooding over the situation, Garrus trying to absorb the new information.

"Well, seems to me we have to go to the Citadel," Garrus said at last.

"Whatever for? We are not going to find her there!" Liara answered, clearly still frustrated.

"No, but it's a good idea to start at the beginning," he tried to placate his friend. "Maybe we find out how all of this started. Besides someone is trying to hide something there. I don't belief in coincidences. There's a connection somewhere. Has to be."

"Goddess, how can I be so dense! Of course it has to be!"

Garrus only chuckled at this. "Relax Liara. Shepard once said to me, you sometimes can't see the wood for the trees."

Confusion spread over the Asari's face. "What have plants to do with our situation?"


End file.
